the_realm_of_wonderfandomcom-20200213-history
Quivering Forest
The Quivering Forest was a forest stretching from the foothills of the Dragonspine Mountains in the north to within a mile of Phlan in the south. It acted as a barrier to the great gray waste of Thar to the east. The Quivering Forest lay mainly on the east bank of the River Stojanow. About Originally planted by the elves of Cormanthor, this copse was mildly enchanted, hastening the growing season to produce a great woods in the span of a human generation. Though the woods have been felled on a number of occasions—lumbered, clear-cut, or even burned by dragonfire—it has always returned to its original form, becoming a light woods within two years, and a deep shadow-filled forest by the end of a man’s life. Dark shadows lurk between the massive trunks of the trees in the Quivering Forest, and every attempt to clear a permanent path through that growth has resulted in the deaths of those involved. Despite its seemingly indestructible nature, settlers continue to build their homes within the forest, drawn by the supernaturally rich soil and the promise of unlimited building supplies. Likewise, many remains of older farms and settlements can be found in the forest, as well as an abundance of menhirs and standing stones from the druidic sects that once called the forest home. Rumors abound that the forest is still guarded by an ancient hierophant. The Quivering Forest is also said to be home to giant spiders, ettercaps, mischievous fey, animate plants, and a dark necromancer or three. Such rumors do little to discourage the hearty people of Phlan from carving out their homesteads. Ecology Morcant burl, a purple-hued hardwood, grew only in the Quivering Forest. History The Quivering Forest was first planted as a copse of trees at the time Phlan was founded, c. 367 DR. Due to its magical nature, it grew to a great forest in the span of a single human generation. Locations *Caves of The Tribe of Karmuntxatek(tribe) kobold tribe. Stuff I've placed Assassin Vines (attuned to only killing non-elven blooded and non-fey individuals), Choke Creepers, Forester's Bane plants, Hangman Trees, Kampfult (which though they normally live in dungeons or underground, are ideal for caves seen as "safe" by humanoids in the northern verges of the Quivering Forests hillier areas) Mandragoras, Mantraps, Mud-Men (along the river banks; and more to do with the former fouling of the river), Obliviax (memory moss), Treants (usually only young ones that spawn occasionally when created by a particularly nasty critter), Algoids (a sentient and psionic water-fungus humanoid that controls trees that spawn near the Stojanow to fight humanoids), Wolf-in-sheep's-clothing, Phycomids, Cifal (masses of insects brought together by the forest to fight humanoids), Giant Sundew Plants, Vortexes (Vortexi? lol...meaning the living ones that are 2+2 Hit Dice that suddenly spawn in the wooded clearings and crush the life from orcs and such), Yellow Musk Creepers (which of course cause Yellow Musk Zombies!), Quickwood Trees (that are decidedly NOT quick, and usually don't attack but spy on passersby and relay information to the little people that I'll mention in a bit) AND the most potent defense of the Quivering Forest: Barkburrs (nasty animated plants that can transform individuals into trees, badgers, giant weasels, treants (yikes!) and even Druids to protect the forest!) Then of course I have the "little people" which live in the Quivering Forest: Atomie, Buckawn, Brownies, Grigs, Pixies, Sprites, Quicklings (everyone loves Quicklings!) a family of Great Owls, AND a family of Faerie Dragons that are ultra reclusive and usually only are "seen" in the shape of something else...but exceedingly protective of the other little people in the forest; though none of the Fey sorts are usually encountered directly because to me such individuals should be "unseen" at all times unless someone is exceedingly good natured and loves the forest. That doesn't even include the "normal" animals that live in the forest...though I should note all the "monsters" I've placed there are not in huge numbers all the time, but slowly begin to appear the more the wood is threatened; almost like the body producing anti-bodies to keep out certain viruses. Did I mention Barkburrs? Also, because I have small people living there; I've also added other creatures that are bad that would be drawn there that would have inherent immunity to most of the plant monsters: Yeth Hounds (which love to eat small fey creatures and live in the hills away from the forest in the north but are often in the northern verges hunting at night), Leucrotta that hunt the eastern verges (from Thar), Mimics which live in underground burrows and hunt at night (usually laying beside game trails as "rocks"; but will also attack humanoids or humans that happen to be using those same trails), Wil-o-the-wisps and such as that. My own Quivering Forest is literally alive and dangerous...even if burned to the ground (which I think has happened in the past) it grows back quickly because the roots themselves would have to be burned away in the earth to prevent its magical nature from re-growing the forest...and did I mention Barkburrs? Seems like the greatest source of info on the forest is the PoR Journal, in it it's said: - that the forest was created by the elves with it's magical aided growth; - that in 1023 DR the inhabitants of the forest killed the last Valjevo prince; - that the Quivering forest was burnt to the ground "in a massive fire that dominated the sky for a month" (timeline clues are vague and there are some discrepancies with GHotR but i think this happens in 1306 DR with the "Dragon Run") The last point is the most interesting to me because it can be seen as the turning point from "forest inhabited by insular elves" to "forest inhabited by dark murderous fey". I say this because it's the only recorded "canon" instance of the Quivering Forest being destroyed and this means that even if the forest can grow back in time, the inhabitants either fled or were trapped inside and died in the fire so any elven presence in the forest was gone for good after 1306 DR. Now, with a forest growing fast back to it's original shape i can see enterprising dark fey gating in (or returning from dimensional hidey holes after the fire or emerging from subterranean passages) and setting up shop in a forest scarred by tragedy in a land constantly flooded in sorrow, desperation, fear and bloodbath know why but i imagine some fey creatures, both seelie and unseelie, attracted by high concenctrations of this or that emotion. This also means that the dark fey were free to plant everywhere in the forest their pet killer vegetables in places were the elves probably used treants or other less murderous green guardians, and this leads to a Quivering Forest full of spriggans, redcaps, unseelie fey, any type of evil plant life and the like. Another interesting piece of the puzzle is the high fertility of the soil of the Stojanow River banks (cleared of the forest i suppose, since it wouldn't have much sense for the elves to have the forest stop well before the Stojanow: leaving some space free for the humans of Old/Archaic Phlan at the mouth of the river sure, leaving more empty space just because no) that stopped after the super powerful plant rust plague around 900 DR. Now, if my supposition about the iper-productive fields is true and if the plant rust that ravaged them was magical/supernatural in origin, then we can theorize that the magic of the Quivering Forest makes all plant life grow, meaning that the humans of Old/Archaic Phlan were reaping the benefits of the forest enchantment for their harvests until another magical/supernatural force put a stop to that and left the area barren (no crops AND no forest claiming it). I like it because it's something i can see elves doing ("Damn the apes using OUR magic to grow and multiply! We have to put a stop to that!" magic rust plague "Uh oh ... our forest isn't reclaiming the barren lands ... well at least the apes are suffering now ...") and then it means that if you plant an assassin vine in the Quivering Forest it will benefit from the same super speedy growth of the trees, giving raise to the vegetarian nightmare of a forest full of evil green things in a short time. Since the plague happened in conjunction with the disappearance of the goodly mage of Sorcerer's Island i can see the focus/capstone of the "no growth" plague being in the ruins on the island and probably linked to the Stojanow River waters (thus only the human fields would be impacted and not all the Quivering Forest). This can even be used to justify the fact there is a coastal trade road passing through Phlan, something i don't think the elves would have allowed (Phlan was founded by people coming on boats and was on the Moonsea so no matter how they pleaded i don't see the humans convincing the elves to leave even more land open for them after that granted for the city to be built, especially since the dwarves used the river to trade and had no need themselves for a trade road, so it was elven interest VS human interest and we know how these things usually go with the pointy eared folks): after the Stojanow River conveyed the plague to the fields it spread to more land at the mouth of the river, stripping the land there of it's magically assisted growth and making possible the construction of a trade road. Quivering Forest Notes 367 DR Year of Shying Eyes: “At this time, the elves planted the Quivering Forest north of the city. This copse was mildly enchanted, hastening the growing season to produce a great woods in the span of a human generation. Though the woods have been felled on a number of occasions, it has always returned to its original form, becoming a light woods within two years, and a deep shadow-filled forest by the end of a man's life.” And “It was at this time that the fey planted the Quivering Forest north of the city; the copse enchanted to grow the great wood in the span of a human generation. “ (The elves and all sorts of fey pooled their resources together and created the forest? Or is this one of those odd things where the writers lump elves into the fey catergory?) 1023 DR Year of the Pirate’s Trove: “Dark shadows lurked between the massive trunks of the trees in the Quivering Forest. An attempt to clear a path through that growth in 1023 DR resulted in the death of the last surviving Great Prince of the Valjevo family.” 1306 DR Year of Thunder: The Dragon Run passage: “Then disaster struck. Raiders from the north, aided by dragons and other dangerous creatures, poured down of the northlands. The Quivering Forest was burned in a massive fire that dominated the sky for a month.” 1344 DR Year of Moonfall: A mass migration of elves begins; this is known as The Retreat. (This is probably when the dark fey start gaining a foothold in the forest.) 1380 DR Year of the Blazing Hand: Phlan forges an alliance with the fey (some say dark fey) of the Quivering Forest. Jeny Greenteeth was one of the fey who entered into the original pact. 1383 DR Year of the Vindicated Warrior: Shadowbane War-- Netherese raze Zhentil Keep and the Citadel of the Raven. The fey of the Quivering Forest help prevent Phlan from being destroyed. 1456 DR Year of the Mithral Hammer: Lord Talaric Daoran goes missing after sending loggers into the Quivering Forest. 1489 DR Year of the Warrior Princess(?): DDEX1-8 Tales Trees Tell: play the adventure and inform me how it ends. Little nuggets of information: A feycrossroad exists in the forest. The dark fey do not have total control of the forest. A passage suggest elven rangers curtail some of the evil creatures that dwell there. Phlanities don't travel into the forest and they fear flying over it too. Morcant Burl (a purplish hardwood) and safflowers (used as a cooking oil) grow only in the Quivering Forest. These items can be obtained by members of the Emerald Enclave who trade with elves. Category:Forests Category:Locations in North Faerûn